Optimum Q&A: Getting to know Dr. Cedric Francois, CEO of Apellis Pharmaceuticals
Mike Ward, Global Head of Thought Leadership, Decision Resources Group, Clarivate, speaks to Cedric about his inspiration and interesting challenges building Apellis Pharmaceuticals
“If you are an entrepreneur, you are conceptualising the improbable”
To watch the highlights reel click the thumbnail below link to full 35min interview above.
Dr. Cedric Francois, MD, Phd, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer/President of Apellis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: APLS)
Dr Francois is a co-founder of Apellis Pharmaceuticals and serves as a member of its board of directors, President and CEO. Prior to co-founding Apellis, a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering targeted C3 therapies, in September 2009, Dr. Francois co-founded Potentia Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a private biotechnology company and has served as President and CEO at Potentia since 2001.
Dr Francois received his MD degree from the University of Leuven in Belgium and his PhD degree in physiology from the University of Louisville. Following postgraduate training in pediatric and transplant surgery, Dr Francois was a member of the research team that performed the first successful hand transplantation and of the Louisville Face Transplant Team, whose work supported hand transplantation in Lyon, France in 2005.
About Apellis
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company that is committed to leveraging courageous science, creativity, and compassion to deliver life-changing therapies. By pioneering targeted C3 therapies, we aim to develop best-in-class and first-in-class therapies for a broad range of debilitating diseases that are driven by uncontrolled or excessive activation of the complement cascade, including those within hematology, ophthalmology, and nephrology. For more information, please visit http://apellis.com.
Mike Ward, Global Head of Thought Leadership
Decision Resources Group, part of Clarivate
Mike has been writing, analysing and commenting on the life sciences industry for more than 30 years as a journalist and investment bank analyst. He has focused on business models, R&D strategies and how to finance innovation, and is often called upon by the industry’s key stakeholders to provide thought leadership.
Mike is well known for his role at Informa where he was Scrip’s Chief Content Officer (2012-2020), Editor (2010-2012). Prior to that, Mike was Senior Editor for BioCentury for five years, and has worked for the likes of Friedman Billings Ramsay International, Quartz Capital Partners, and was director co-founder of Critical I Limited.
Most recently, in April 2020, Mike joined Decision Resource Group, part of Clarivate, where he will clearly demonstrate years of valuable experience and expertise in the healthcare sector.
About Clarivate
Clarivate™ is a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics to accelerate the pace of innovation. We have built some of the most trusted brands across the innovation lifecycle, including the Web of Science,™ Cortellis,™ Derwent,™ CompuMark,™ MarkMonitor™ and Techstreet.™ Today, Clarivate is on a bold entrepreneurial mission to help customers reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing innovations. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.
